Top 5 Best Organic Foods To Switch To

There are a million reasons why milk tops the list. I'm not even going to go into the horror of factory farming - and even if I were to, so many of the government certified Organic diary producers don't allow their cows into anything resembling a pasture. The number one reason to buy organic milk is the hormones and antibiotics. While there has been a huge negative reaction to the introduction of rBGH to American Dairy farmers by Monsanto in 1994, it still remains in any milk carton not labeled "No rBGH". This growth hormone, which increases milk production but is horribly destructive to the cows it is fed to, contains IGF-1, an insulin-like growth factor. Excess levels of IGF-1 have been increasingly linked to cancer development.

On the other side, milk that comes from cows fed on grass and pasture is high in Conjugated Linoleic Acids (CLAs). These are important fats that have been linked to decreased heart disease and diabetes. Dairy from certified organic farms has not been fed with pesticide-soaked corns and grains, although the goverment certification still allows genetically modified feed and protein additives... meat additives - which are wholly unhealthy for ruminants like cows.

If you have kids, and even if you don't, odds are high that you have ketchup in your fridge right now. 75% of all tomato consumption in the US is in the form of processed tomatoes. Ketchup need contain little more than it's primary fruit and some flavoring.. and yet if you read the bottle label, you will see a great deal more written there. Thinking about how much processed food damages both the environment and our bodies, just switching to organic on ketchup alone is a big deal. Plus, recent research has shown that organic ketchup has DOUBLE the anti-oxidants of conventional ketcup. And it's not that much more of a cost.

Oh, the potato. You delicious thing, you. These root veggies are a staple of the American diet, for sure. Up to 30% of our veg consumption! This is one of those things that switching to organic on can have a huge impact. Conventionally grown potatoes are some of the most pesticide contaminated veggies. Even after being peeled and washed, these babies are still soaked in pesticides. Buy organic on this one, and you get some of the biggest bang for your extra bucks.

After bananas, apples are the most commonly eaten fresh fruit. They are also soaked in just as much pesticide as potatoes. Buy organic apples and apple-products, they taste better and won't poison you. Even better if you can find locally grown apples... less carbon footprint, which is something that all Organics still have a long way to go on.